DA declines to file charges against city council member

There will be no charges filed by the Oneida County District Attorney against Rhinelander City Alderperson Dawn Rog concerning an incident that took place at city hall last month. The Vilas County Sheriff’s Department investigated an incident involving Rog and computer consultant Peggy Schauer. Rog reportedly wanted Schauer to leave the building and Schauer maintained she was told to be there by city administrator Daniel Guild. Schauer said Rog shoved her while Rog stated that her hand brushed Schauer’s coat.

In a letter to Schauer dated March 22, District Attorney Michael Schiek wrote that he will not be filing criminal charges or issuing an ordinance citation at this time, adding, “It is the conduct of the people that must be evaluated and the facts involved in this incident more closely resemble a daily occurrence of miscommunication, mistrust and hostile work environment.”

Rog issued a statement saying she regrets “the incident took place at all,” and thanked Schiek for arriving at a “fair” decision.

“It does, however, highlight the deep divide between certain members of the city council vs. the city administrator and mayor on how we need to go about protecting the public’s right to know about what goes on at city hall,” Rog stated.

Rog wrote that Guild and others used “grossly overblown descriptions of simple facts, combined them with blatant attempts at character assignation, and formally provided them to law enforcement in their effort to support false allegations which were swiftly and properly dismissed.”

Rog’s statement concluded by stating that she “looks forward to moving forward with city business in the most professional ways we can, given most of the same obstacles remain firmly in place, if not more so. For my part, I vow to do my very best.”